Games › Strategy › Strategy + Grid-Based Movement
Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Strategy game?
Strategy + Grid-Based Movement
Of 409 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Strategy game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 676 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $76k, ×122 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 676 games are announced against 244 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) |
| Top 5% | $77k (exactly $76,752) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 409 |
| Released games | 1,130 |
| Announced | 676 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 10% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Grid-Based Movement; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Turn-Based Tactics, Turn-Based Combat, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 64,508 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 188 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 676 games are announced against 244 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
XCOM® 2 2016 · $48M 
STAR WARS Zero Company™ 2026 · $29M 
Battle Brothers 2017 · $23M 
MENACE 2026 · EA · $15M 
King Arthur: Knight's Tale 2022 · $9.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | XCOM® 2 | older | $19.99 | 79,998 84% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,974,801) | Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | STAR WARS Zero Company™ | $49.99 | 19,521 82% | 586k | $29M (exactly $29,275,644) | Bit Reactor | |
| | Battle Brothers | older | $29.99 | 26,118 87% | 784k | $23M (exactly $23,498,365) | Overhype Studios |
| | MENACE | · EA | $39.99 | 12,281 90% | 368k | $15M (exactly $14,733,516) | Overhype Studios |
| | King Arthur: Knight's Tale | older | $44.99 | 6,722 83% | 202k | $9.1M (exactly $9,072,683) | NeocoreGames |
 | TRIANGLE STRATEGY | older | $59.99 | 3,239 78% | 97k | $5.8M (exactly $5,829,228) | Square Enix, ARTDINK |
 | Xenonauts 2 | $39.99 | 4,853 81% | 146k | $5.8M (exactly $5,822,144) | Goldhawk Interactive | |
 | Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors | $9.99 | 18,587 96% | 558k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) | poncle, Nosebleed Interactive | |
 | Persona 5 Tactica | older | $59.99 | 1,526 74% | 46k | $2.7M (exactly $2,746,342) | ATLUS |
 | Hard West 2 | older | $29.99 | 2,717 80% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) | Ice Code Games |
 | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
 | Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked | $29.99 | 1,235 82% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,111,130) | Resolution Games | |
 | Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch | $24.99 | 1,293 81% | 39k | $969k (exactly $969,362) | Ocean Drive Studio, Inc. | |
 | Those Who Rule | $17.99 | 1,116 89% | 33k | $602k (exactly $602,305) | Eldin Turulja | |
 | Warside | $24.99 | 547 68% | 16k | $410k (exactly $410,086) | LAVABIRD | |
 | Gentoo Rescue | $19.99 | 237 99% | 7.1k | $142k (exactly $142,129) | Jagriff |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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